Body for Life is a 12 week program designed by Bill Phillips, and outlined in his bestselling book "Body for Life". It revolves around three main components:
[list=1]1. High protein, moderate carb, low(ish) fat meals, eaten 6 times a day 2. Short periods (max. 45 mins/day) of intense exercise, 6 days a week. 3. goal setting and personal transformation: basically looking within yourself and seeing what needs changing or tidying up[/list=1] Nutrition

Each BFL ‘meal’ involves a portion of carbs, protein, and fat, measured using your hand. A clenched fist is equal in size to a portion of carbohydrate, your palm (minus fingers and thumb) is a portion of protein. Then add a smidge of fat.

This works out to around 40% protein, 40% carb, 20% fat. You eat low-carb veggies - as many as you want - with at least two of your meals.

For six days of BFL, you eat 'clean' - you stick to the program. On the seventh day, you get the much beloved free day, when you can eat anything you want.

Exercise

Body for Life workouts are six days a week. Three of those days are cardio days, alternating with three weightlifting days.

The cardio sessions are only 20 minutes long each, but utilize high intensity interval training (abbreviated as HIIT, or as 20MAS = 20 Minute Aerobic Solution).

The weightlifting sessions (abbreviated as UBWO - upper body workout, and LBWO - lower body workout) alternate upper and lower body days, so you rest parts of your body for significant periods of time. The sessions are about challenging yourself to lift heavier and heavier weights.

Tracking your Progress:

On Body for Life, the scale will probably be a poor measure of your progress, because you are aiming to change your body shape and composition. If you are relatively close to goal weight, the numbers on the scale may not move much at all. How you look and feel, the way your clothes fit and your measurements are good indictators of your progress, as is tracking your bodyfat percentage. When tracking BF%, it is important to remember that the actual number is not likely to be completely accurate. The key is to pick one method and use that. The difference between readings will be accurate if done correctly.

To track bodyfat, you can use calipers, or you can also use online calculators, which require you to take tape measure readings. Several popular ones are:

While the gym is certainly convenient, has everything you need in one place and offers lots of variety, you can workout at home. Cardio can be done on home exercise equipment – a stationary bike, a treadmill – or by lacing up a pair of running shoes. As long as the activity has adjustable levels of intensity, then it can be done for your cardio. For weightlifting, you will need either a proper adjustable exercise bench – or something which can double as a bench. You’ll also need a number of dumbbell sets of varying weights – or dumbbells which are adjustable.

If you're more scientifically minded, or you really want to understand the ins and outs of how it all works, there's a wealth of information at www.hussman.org/fitness/index.htm

You want to do the program? Buy or borrow the book, and read it thoroughly.

ENJOY YOUR JOURNEY!

Contributed by Snarla:

[COLOR=blue]Gym Etiquette or "How to make people think I'm a seasoned veteran at this even though I'm just a beginner" [/COLOR]

For a lot of people the gym is often intimidating when you're first tinkering with weight training. Relax and just remember that every single person in there was once new just like you. Just like in your workplace, grocery store, or place of worship, there are some unspoken little guidelines that will make yours(and everyone else's) time in there better. But how will you know about them if they're unspoken?? Well, that's why we're here for each other!

1. When working with dumbbells, never keep more than two sets with you at any time.

For instance, if you are doing chest and you work with 8/10/12/151b weights, only keep the 8/10 with you. There might be someone else who is working with the 12's that day and if you have a little weight collection there beside you you're preventing them from getting they're workout done. And who knows, maybe they're trying to get out of there in 45 min. just like you. Use the minute between sets to get a drink of water, change weights, find a new radio station, whatever.

2. When someone is working on a machine or bench, don't be afraid to politely ask them "How many sets do you have left?".

The gym can get crowded, but it's a little community where people in general like to share. They share machines, workout advice, phone numbers*. I have a general guideline on this one:

-If the person's reply is two or more sets, I ask if I can work in with them. (Don't be afraid to ask!!)
-If the person's reply is "just one more", I politely tell them I will wait. It will only mean waiting a couple of minutes and I'm not too zealous about my 45 min. that I throw ettiquette out the window.

3. When I am working out on a machine and someone asks me how many more sets I have left, I politely answer.

-If I have two or more sets left, I offer to share the machine with them. After all, they may be trying to get out in 45min just like me and I'm helping them do that.
-If I have just one more I tell them that, and hopefully they've learned the right way (see #2 above) and will just offer to wait. If not, I'm happy to let them work in with me.

4. If you are working out by yourseif and you get to the point in your program where you really need a little help, don't be afraid to ask an employee or even a fellow member.

-We all need help every now and then, Don't be afraid to ask for it. It's the easiest way to make friends in the gym too.

5. String a towel

-Nobody likes sitting on a machine or bench that's all gross.

Just have fun, If you don't like the gym or even hate it, you will learn to love it. It will become your home away from home if you choose to go to a gym rather than train at home.

Rest Between Sets

Am I risking something detrimental if I push through it without waiting the recommended time between sets and exercises?

The main effect of "over-rushing" your workout is that it, on average, will reduce the overall intensity of your training. This, in the long run, will reduce the effectiveness of your workout. Sure, it may "feel" more difficult if you rush things, but this is much more of a cardiovascular challenge then a muscle challenge. By not getting enough recovery (~1 minute is usually enough) you will reduce the stress on the muscle which will hinder results.

So remember ... Wait A Minute!

Contributed by pmint9

Adding Back In {Healthy} Carbs:

But Why ...? from an Atkid ...
Given that many of us are former Atkids, this question became the subject of much debate over the last couple weeks. Indeed, for those of us with medical conditions that require we restrict carb intake for health, the thought of added carbs to our diets causes much anguish.

BFL is designed to increase your lean muscle mass (which will in turn enable you to burn more fat). The addition of healthy carbs in addition to proteins, and minimal fats primes your body to accomplish this task.

As with everything, YMMV, but as you consider branching into BFL exercise, please consider BFL nutrition for many of the reasons provided below.

Disclaimer: The answers in this post are specific to XXXX's questions regarding eating approaches as they apply to bodybuilding. They are not meant as general comments to overall eating approaches. With this in mind...if you're not interested in these specific aspects then, as Chief Barbrady would say: "move along.. nothing to see here."

First, while it can be useful to learn about the details of this stuff... it can also be extremely confusing. For many people overthinking the details is paralyzing. They end up devoting all of their focus to little, often irrelevant, details and lose track of the big goal; which is making progress toward your own individual goal. My standard refrain on any of these topics is: choose something ... give it a try ... and see if it works for you.

In this case, if you're curious about how your body will respond to a lower carb (than BFL levels) approach to eating then give it a try and see how it works for you. This is really the only way that you'll ever know. Having knowledge of how your own body responds to any eating or exercise approach will be much more valuable to you then technical stuff. Not to say that technical details are "bad" ... it's just that they're often not too useful for achieving your unique goals.

From XXXX: "- ...what then is the point of why so many bodybuilders advocate eating plenty of carbs. You're basically telling me that when you're recovering your body uses fatty acids as fuels, but if you take in carbs your body will switch and use that as fuel instead"

Not true. You're grossly oversimplifying things. Human metabolism is very complex. Basically, to oversimplify, your body "burns" a variety of fuels (sugars, fatty acids) at any given time. Your body is constantly releasing fatty acids into the blood stream while simultaneously moving fatty acids into fat storage. Your body is constantly breaking down proteins while simultaneously doing repair/rebuilding. Etc. It's just not as simple as "now I'm burning fat ... now I'm not ..."

From XXXX " ... so why do people advocate eating so many carbs and having it make up a large part of their calories??"

Carbs, especially for bodybuilding, play an important role. First, restoring glycogen is important for optimal muscle funtion during workouts. Glycogen replenishment is also one of those processes that your body (through evolution) "has" to do. It does this, even without much carb intake, by breaking down certain amino acids (the BCAA's... leucine, isoleucine and valine) and converting them into glycogen. This is the second reason as to why carbs play a role. They help to minimize protein breakdown/catabolism. Basically, if your carb intake is "right" then you'll breakdown fewer amino acids and more of your dietary protein will go into muscle building/repair.

From XXXX: "What do you think about this: After an intense workout when your glycogen reserves are depleted what will your body use as fuel if you don't fill them up with high GI carbs?"

It depends. Again, there are few 100% answers to any of these questions. There is a high likelihood that you will be breaking down proteins. Replacing glycogen is a "must do" for your body and it starts as soon as the workout starts (this is one of the big jobs of cortisol). But, high GI carbs aren't the universal answer either. They work great for some ... poorly for others. For someone like yourself, who's trying to gain mass ... it is essential to eat something after the workout.

From XXXX "So if you feed yourselves plenty of carbs then your body will switch over to carbs and use that as fuel instead of the fatty acids right?? What then is the point of carbs?? Why do so many bodybuilders take in so many carbs b/c if what you're saying is the case, that means one should take in very little carbs or else their body's will not use fat. I don't understand why bodybuilders consume so many carbs (say 40-60%)."

Again, you're trying to make things too simple. The reason for carb intake is as mentioned: glycogen replenishment to fuel intense workouts and for sparing proteins from gluconeogenesis. Your muscles prefer fatty acids as fuel, while at rest; as work intensity increases the reliance on sugars increases. The key to gaining mass, while staying lean is to get the right mix of proteins, fats and carbs that moves you toward your goal. There is no magic number or ratio.

From XXXX: "Last question: What is it that determines whether your body uses fat as fuel or muscle?? Or another way of putting it is when will your body start breaking down muscle for fuel??"

Again, it depends ... mainly on your recovery ability. And, recovery ability depends on your overall diet, training approach and lifestyle. Once you chose a path, regadless of what that may be, your body will let you know if your choice is working or not. There's really not much more to it than that ... choose and evaluate; change if needed.

Contributed by Bellibean

Why Add Muscle?

I once again had someone comment to me that they didn't want to work out with heavy weights because they were afraid of "bulking up". It made me wonder how many people lurk in here, thinking the same thing....

Okay, here's the math:

A pound of muscle takes up 22-33% the amount of space that a pound of fat does. Let's say 1/3 the amount of space for simplicity.

Once you add a pound of muscle to your body - a process that requires a large amount of energy and revs up your metabolism in itself - that pound of muscle requires 30-50 calories a day to maintain itself. It doesn't just sit there, it burns up calories for you every day.

30-50 calories a day, given you don't eat any extra calories, means that each year that pound of muscle will lead to the energy expenditure equivalent to the burning of 3-5 pounds of fat.

The amount of extra fat "burned" during EACH YEAR that you keep that pound of muscle is equal to at least 9 times the amount of space that original pound of muscle added to your body.

In 3 years, that pound of muscle that you thought would "bulk you up" will have burned off 27 times its size in fat.

An oversimplified explanation, but basically true.

Just a little reminder of why we are working so hard, and maybe a little motivation for those thinking of joining us.

In our body-focused society, it’s difficult to embrace the idea that eating a lot of food is healthy. After all, America is a country where eating disorders are rampant and the ideal for feminine sex appeal can be found in a size 2 dress on the racks of a couturier’s showroom. It’s perhaps most difficult to shake commonly held notions of body awareness because of the constant barrage of images effortlessly burned on to the template of our psyches on a daily basis. If it isn’t Kate Moss peddling infantile sizes of Calvin Klein jeans, it’s Heidi Klum smiling gauntly through hollow cheeks, adorned in the latest un-bikini in Sports Illustrated.

To an unconscious world, these images are pleasing. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t sell product. But the fact still remains, these images somehow are also able to do great damage to more than just one generation coming up in 21st century America. If this weren’t so, then scale hyper - vigilance wouldn’t exist in anyone over the age of 20.

Sure, in the real world, it may be obvious that the coffee and cigarette diets used by models are not a suitable trade-off for size 0 pants, and that we cannot survive on a half a rice cake even if a contract depended on it, but it might not be as easy to accept that eating copious amounts of food could ever be a part of an equation that equals any weight under 150 pounds! Progress comes in small amounts.

The truth is, diet is as bewildering as some of the more outlandish claims made by farmers about UFO’s. While on one hand eating too many calories can make us fat, eating too little can make us fat as well. Go figure. And even though a calorie of any kind is still a calorie, what you eat actually does matter. Even stranger still is the fact that some people can gorge themselves on almost anything and never gain an ounce, while some others just glance at food at virtually blow up! Go figure again, and again….and again. And while you’re at it, is your figure all that it could be?

The problem is, diet guidelines and rules of thumb are often confusing. And many times, the most ridiculous course of action in a person’s diet, is as senseless as someone approaching them and saying, "You can eat this piece of fruit, but only on Sunday at 2pm. If you deviate and eat this fruit one minute after 2:05pm, you’re going to be in serious trouble. But remember, if you miss 2pm on Sunday, and you want to wait until the crack of dawn on Monday, make sure you eat all of it-including the skin-by 5am. Then, you will be okay because that’s allowed. However, just make sure that if you do end up eating this piece of fruit by 5am on Monday morning, that you eat an egg with it." Oh, okay, now that it’s been put in those terms, it’s easy to understand. Mm-hmm.

Forget the calorie-consciousness and fat-consciousness movement of the moment, and take note of this fact: The more meals a person eats, provided the food still equals a reasonable caloric number for their particular metabolic rate, the more weight they’ll eventually lose. Why? 1500 calories eaten in 3 meals isn’t the same as 1500 calories eaten in 6 meals.

But, if a calorie is a calorie, as we’ve always been told, then why would it matter whether it hits the stomach in 3 meals or 6? The answer to that has to do with how the body handles food once it’s ingested. And, quite simply, the answer is: When food becomes available to the body, the metabolism fires up in order to handle processing and using it for energy. Each time we eat, the machine refires. Firing burns calories because it takes energy for the furnace to run. In the end, 1500 calories has a much better opportunity to be utilized and burned up over the course of 6 meals than it ever would over the course of 3 meals for this very reason.

Eating more often has much more benefit than just weight loss over the long haul, however. Eating more sustains the body’s blood sugar levels as well. Maintaining moderate blood sugar levels is crucial to sustained energy and even-keeled mood. Oftentimes, those who wait 6 hours between meals find that their energy ebbs and flows in ways that aren’t always convenient or healthy. This can lead to light-headedness at the very least and diabetes in the worst case scenario. Eating more often tends to curtail this kind of wild swing in blood sugar and keeps the body feeding on a steady flow of useable energy.

The other benefit to eating smaller meals, much more frequently, is the fact that the body can only process so much food at any given time. For instance, eating 700 calories over the course of one meal, almost assures a person of storing some of those calories as fat. It’s a physical impossibility for the average person to actually demand and utilize all of those calories at one sitting. As a result, the body must find something to do with the excess energy stored in the surplus of calories. Fat storage is a logical choice. The body saves it for later so that it will be assured energy during times of lack or starvation.

While we may not live in a country where starvation is a great danger, the body only sees things in terms of survival. When we are without food for long periods of time throughout our day, or skip meals because of schedule conflicts, the metabolism suffers a slowing. Perceiving the body to be in a period of starvation (something which happens after 6 hours without a meal) metabolic and body function slowing begins so that the body can conserve energy in preparation for long periods without food.

But let’s face it, the best reason to eat more frequent meals is the fact that it can prevent binge-eating and help the mind and body remain sated throughout the day!

METABOLICALLY FRIENDLY FOODS

PROTEIN

Protein is the friend to metabolism. Why? Because each time protein is ingested, the metabolism fires up extra hot to process protein because it is a more complex food to break down. The body not only must digest protein, it must find pathways for all of the many amino acids that comprise protein. For example, branched chain amino acids ( B CA A’s) are the three aminos which comprise the literal building blocks of muscles. All muscles require BCAA’s in order to repair and regenerate tissue that has been broken down through exertion. Other aminos, like L-Tryptophan, are crucial for brain function.

VEGETABLES

Veggies, particularly cruciferous varieties (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots) are fibrous and good for digestion, provide fiber and are nutritional powerhouses; chock full of precious vitamins and minerals. They’re also the only foods that require more energy for digestion than they actually contain themselves. So while you can eat 2 cups of broccoli in one sitting and only rack up 40 calories, you’ll burn more than that digesting them. Neat deal, huh?

Because most women have no interest in becoming big and muscular, women believe their training programs should be quite different from men's programs.

From this key concern -- becoming too big -- a number of myths and misperceptions have evolved about women's weight training. Such myths and misperceptions have kept many women from weight training or training with any degree of effectiveness. Most women are, unfortunately, not doing the one activity -- weight training -- that can truly shape their bodies in a highly attractive way, greatly improve their health now and in the future, and markedly improve strength.

This article counters myths and misperceptions about women and weight training and makes the case that in most instances the training programs for women and men will be virtually identical.

Moreover, the principles of training governing these programs are the same. There are not separate training principles for women and men because training principles are universal.

Let's first examine a number of these myths and misperceptions and then provide principles and prescriptions for successful training applicable to both men and women.

Contributed by LuckyJoyce

Myths:

The chief concern of women is that by weight training they will become big, muscular, and highly defined. This is a myth and misperception because few individuals of either sex have the genetic endowment to develop a large, defined musculature.

Women and men possessing these characteristics seem to be more the norm today only because bodybuilding for women and men has become more popular and, hence, visible in print and electronic media.

A safe bet is only several women out of 10,000 could ever develop the appearance of a top bodybuilder. Unless a woman reading this article is one of those several out of 10,000, becoming too big and muscular is not a concern of the other 9,996 women!

Taking a quite different tack, many women believe they are incapable of gaining much strength and thus restrict themselves to using light weights, high repetitions, and high sets. There also may be a fear of injury if heavier weights are used.

Many women cannot lift as much weight or move as much resistance as men simply because women tend to have less lean body mass than men and few women have trained seriously for any length of time.

Actually, on a basis of lean body mass, many women are capable of proportionally becoming as strong as many men. Thus, Jane may have 100 lbs of lean body mass at a total body weight of 125 lbs and do squats with 150 lbs. John may have 170 lbs of lean body mass at a total body weight of 200 lbs and do squats with 255 lbs. The proportion of weight used in the squat to lean body mass (1.5 to 1.00) is the same. Both Jane and John will profit from the same program based on the same principles, and neither will risk injury if they train correctly.

In this example, notice that Jane at 125 lbs is still not a large person. She is very unlikely to develop large legs even by being able to squat 10 to times with 100 lbs because the genetic traits necessary for developing large muscle are exceedingly rare.

Based both on the fear of getting too big -- which is an unreasoned fear -- and the quite contrary belief that women can't get very strong, many women adopt a training program revolving around the notion of "toning" plus a large amount of aerobic training.

The purpose of this regime is presumably to remain "small", keep weight under control, and maintain a "fit and feminine appearance". Thus, another myth and misperception is that toning and large amounts of aerobics are the smart training choices for women. Let's see why this is, indeed, a misperception.

Toning is a term that has no scientific basis. It is not a term that appears in exercise physiology books. It's a made-up term. But what does toning mean in popular parlance? The term implies using light weights or other resistance presumably to derive some small muscular effect -- for strength and appearance. With toning, the idea seems to be not to put forth much effort (intensity) but to do a great deal of work (volume) -- many sets, many repetitions.

It's been known for at least 50 years that this is an ineffective training method. Here's why.

According to the well-established size principle, muscle fibers are recruited -- this means the order they "fire" or work - based on the intensity of effort. Smaller slow-twitch fibers will be recruited for lower-intensity efforts, while more and other fast-twitch fibers are only recruited with higher- intensity efforts.

Simply put, lower-intensity toning does not effectively work the muscles. But what about doing many repetitions and many sets? Such training practices are not only ineffective, they are a total waste of time. They wear you out and give you nothing in return.

In fact, Master Trainer has reported many times on research comparing the use of single sets for each exercise and multiple sets. There is virtually no evidence to support the common practice of doing multiple sets for each exercise. That is, there is no additional benefit of doing two or three sets let alone the many sets of one exercise that many women do. It is basically a waste of time and effort and can actually reduce the quality of the workout. That's because doing a great deal of work is exhausting, time consuming, and undermines the ability to recover and adapt from a workout. Rather what is effective is using one high intensity set for each exercise.

Intensity:

As soon as the word "intensity" is introduced, most women become intimidated and turned off because they equate the term with using a great deal of weight or other resistance, something they fear or see on an absolute basis they can't do as well as most men. Intensity, however, does not signify any specific weight or resistance or, for that matter, a specific number of repetitions. The weight or resistance used is relative to the strength of each individual, and the specific number of repetitions used is somewhat arbitrary.

Intensity does mean the degree of effort you are putting forth at a given time. The surest way to effective weight training for women or men is training with high intensity in a progressive manner.

Let's see exactly what this means by focusing on only one specific muscle, the biceps. The most basic exercise movement for the biceps is the curl, which can be done with a barbell, dumbbell, or machine. In our example, you can properly curl 25 lbs for 5 slower repetitions. This means you curl the weight up ("concentric" part of the movement) in about 6 to 8 seconds with no momentum, pause for a second, and slowly lower ("eccentric" part) the bar in 3 or 4 seconds for each repetition. Thus, each repetition will take between 9 to 12 seconds and the total time for the set is about 45 to 60 seconds. You can no longer move the bar in proper form after the fifth repetition; you "fail" at that repetition. This is a very high-intensity set because at the fifth repetition you are working with maximum effort.

It is the maximum effort and then just slightly exceeding yourself next time that provides your muscles -- in this case your biceps -- with the correct training stimulus.

What if you just stopped at four repetitions? Since you are capable of five good repetitions, the four-repetition set does not provide the appropriate stimulus. What about doing what many women do in their routines, perform five sets with 15 lbs for 10 repetitions each? Again, you have not provided the correct stimulus because these sets are merely submaximal duplications of themselves.

With high-intensity, progressive training, your task next time is to try to do another repetition in good form with 25 lbs, i.e., 25 x 6. You would have progressed on repetitions. Four to six slower repetitions in a movement is a good goal. Once you have reached your repetition goal, for the next workout, you would slightly increase the weight, e.g., to 27 lbs. Chances are you will only be able to do four repetitions with this added weight, so you begin the progression toward six repetitions which will take an additional set of workouts. The process is called the double progression system because you attempt to increase either repetitions or weight in each successive workout. It's a basic universal principle of weight training that applies to everyone, women and men.

Now here's a point women (and men) should really love. Progressive high-intensity training is so effective you cannot do many high-intensity sets (volume), and you cannot train very often (frequency). High-intensity -- the effective way to train -- is incompatible with high volume (doing a lot of sets) and high frequency. In training, more is not better; it's usually worse. Train purposefully and hard and then rest and recover.

You may at first be incredulous about the specific example shown here; but once you understand and apply the principles of high-intensity training, you will be incredulous no longer.

Example: The toning program for biceps (and this is just one simple muscle) is one you may find in many training articles and books for women. The beginner and advanced programs take a good deal of time, and it's got to be boring repeating the same exercise over and over. The high-intensity biceps program takes only a few minutes per week and less for the advanced training. The reason for the further reduction in sets (volume) and workouts (frequency) is that more advanced trainers -- women and men -- can bring greater focus and intensity to their exercise so they need less work (volume) and more time for recovery (less frequent training).

Still incredulous? Keep this main idea in mind. The high-volume toning approach does not properly train muscles. It's a waste of time and energy. The very brief, high-intensity approach provides the necessary stimulus for strength and muscle increases. Once the stimulus has been provided by your efforts, no more exercise is required. Additional exercise is unnecessary. It's not a question of how much exercise you can possibly tolerate but exactly what is the correct dose of exercise that is required to make improvements in strength and muscle mass.

Body Composition:

Women who slowly and modestly gain more muscle will change their body composition. Such women will have more lean body mass and less fat. If you're one of these women, you'll look a lot better. Now here's another key point, and it's closely related to the fear of getting too big. Muscle weighs more than fat. Training will strengthen and reshape a woman's body, and she may weigh slightly more than before she started training.

However, the scale weight is not nearly as significant as a woman's body composition. Indeed, an untrained or improperly trained woman weighing 130 lbs may be 30% body fat, almost 40 lbs of fat. The same properly trained woman may weigh 132 lbs but with only 20% body fat, and she'll look terrific!

Women who are effectively training should not simply depend on the scale. If you need to have your progress quantified, aside from the increase in strength you'll be showing, consider having body fat measurements done every month or so. That's where you'll notice some meaningful difference.

Aerobic Training:

Now, what about aerobic training? Shouldn't women who want to lose weight and body fat do many hours per week of lower- or moderate-intensity aerobic training? This is another myth and misperception that needs to be countered. Here are the reasons. The rate of "burning" calories in lower-intensity aerobics is, indeed, low. Even if your goal was simply to expend calories, this isn't a great way to do it. For example, to expend several hundred calories in lower-intensity aerobics, you may have to do a 90-minute workout. Is that how you want to spend your time?

Such lower-intensity aerobic training does virtually nothing for your cardiovascular fitness. Intensity in cardiovascular workouts just as in weight training is the key. Intensity in cardiovascular training is defined in terms of the percent maximum oxygen consumption or for convenience sake the percent of your maximal heart rate. Your maximum heart rate is approximated by the formula of 220 minus your age.

So a conditioned 40- year-old woman could have a maximum heart rate of 180 beats per minutes, perhaps a bit higher if she was in really good condition. Cardiovascular workouts at 50-60% of your maximum heart rate just do not do much for cardiovascular fitness, and the rate of caloric expenditure is low. There's no reason why such aerobic training should be at the "heart" of any woman's or man's program. Such lower to moderate activity could be, however, a peripheral, optional part of the program, particularly if outside of exercise time life is pretty sedentary. It's only recently that work and day to day living has required so little activity so doing some activity each day can have some real health and mental health benefits. This will be discussed later.

Safely and progressively training at 75-85% and occasionally 90% of your maximum heart rate can do a great deal to increase a woman's fitness, and the rate of caloric expenditure is high. Moreover, it appears interval-type higher-intensity training, that you can do on any machine or is the basis of many step and other classes, is an excellent way to become fitter. Another way to do interval training is simply to intersperse walking up steps or hills or simply walking faster for 30 seconds to two minutes during more moderate steady state walking.

There's also some evidence that performing higher-intensity aerobic interval training results in more fat "burning" (oxidation) after the training session than the more usual steady state training. This is because higher intensity weight training or interval training creates a real disruption to the metabolism. It takes time after training, hours, to return to a more balanced state. The entire process requires more calories. So you get great fitness, a high rate of caloric expenditure, and "fat burning" in one workout.

Prior issues of Master Trainer have also described in great detail the rationale for a special Graded Exercise Protocol (GXP). Here's how to do the GXP. We can conservatively use your age predicted maximum heart rate for this protocol. Do a graded warm-up of several to five minutes that takes you to 80% of your age predicted maximum heart rate at the end of the warm-up. Then, without stopping, do a 3-minute steady state work period keeping your heart rate at about 85% of your age predicted maximum heart rate. Finish the GXP with a 3-minute cooldown. Obviously, as you become fitter, you need to adjust the pace of the warm-up and 3-minute piece to keep your heart rate in the right zone. Details of the GXP are on our site. Click here to review those now. As you can see, the entire GXP takes 10 minutes and is done twice per week.

Here again are some points women and men will love. If you build more muscle mass, even modestly so, you will modestly but meaningfully increase your resting metabolic rate. This means you expend more calories all the time. So, coupling effective weight training with interval training or the GXP is a sure-fire way to change body composition.

Keep this in mind. There is no requirement of every-day aerobics. Moreover, just as with weight training, volume isn't important. There's very little evidence that doing longer aerobic training in any way increases cardiovascular fitness. It's intensity that counts.

Forget once again the myth and misperception that more is better. Performing countless hours of lower-intensity aerobics will not melt away fat or "reshape" a woman's body. What it will do is waste a good deal of time and lead to terminal boredom.

Contributed by smasty

[COLOR=blue]THINGS TO DO TO GET READY FOR CHALLENGE 1[/COLOR] [list=1][*]Re-read the book, Do NOT loan out your book! You'll find yourself referring to it over and over! [*] Have you entered the official contest? Go to www.body-for-life.com if you want to. Why not? [*]Take before pics, if you enter the official contest you can not submit digitals or poloroids. I take both digital and film pics for that reason. [*]Do your measurements (neck, upper chest, chest, lower chest (ribcage), waist, navel, hips, right & left thighs, knees (above knee cap), calves & biceps, and anywhere else you want. Write down exactly where you measure things like calves so you measure in the same place each time. Example: Calves, 3" from knees. When taking measurements take them 3 times and use the average for a more accurate measure.[*]Do your BF% Have someone experienced take your BF% using calipers & have the same person check it again every 4 weeks or at the end of your challenge. There are several BF% calculators available online. Choose one and use it. [*]If you are counting calories, you can figure your Hussman BMR (basal metabolic rate) here: www.hussman.org/fitness/bmrcalc.htm (wait for the pop up menu)--this will give you an idea for target calories if you are uncomfortable with palm/fist measuring [*]Copy your tracking sheets from the BFL site[*]If your gym doesn't provide them, get a clipboard [*]Creat a file or binder for tracking sheets and inspirational stuff, measurements, etc. [*] Plan your workout. What questions do you have on form? Week 1 is a real learning experience on how to handle the weights and how much to handle, don't worry if it's frustrating at first. [*]Buy a good pair of lifting gloves. Yes, you DO need them.[*]Stopwatch or timer. You can get a little magnetic timer that will stick on your clipboard or the machine you're using. [*]My recommendation when you're designing your workout, for the first 4 weeks focus on the "multi-joint" strength building exercises as your main exercises: For chest, bench press or pushups; for shoulders, shoulder press; for quads, squats; for hamstrings, deadlifts; for back, pullups or pulldowns. These are the bb basics that everyone should master, they are exercises that allow you to build strength and muscle fast, thus confidence and metabolisms.[*] If you have a home gym with dumbells, "Platemates" are indispensible! They are magnetic weights that you put on the ends of your dumbells to raise the weight by 1.25 pounds (x2 = 2.5 pounds). So, you can take an 8 pound dumbell to 9.25 pounds; believe me it can make a big difference if you're not quite ready for a 10 pounder. Also if you have 15's and 20's but no 17/18, use 2 on a dumbell to give you an interim weight. You can buy them from www.fwonline.com You'll want 2 pair. [*]Traveling? Try Resistance Band Gyms. If you travel often, hotel gyms can be hit and miss. A resistance band gym is indispensible! You can really get a decent resistance workout with these. With the door jamb attachment you can create a virtual cable machine attached at any point on the door jamb (lower, middle, upper). Even people with home gyms could use this as a nice supplement. I bought mine from Body Trends, it has a break-apart (for easy packing) unbreakable plastic bar for barbell work and a very very excellent video. Also you can choose from 10 different level resistance bands and they have a trade up program for your band if it gets too easy. www.bodytrends.com/products/...lifelinegym.htm[*] Plan your meals & when you'll eat them. This takes just as much work as the workouts, don't skimp here, plan plan plan! Go shopping, stock up on plastic containers, a small cooler, a good sport bottle (one with a strap/handle is great), order protein powder and other supplements you want. You might want to check www.netrition.com. Use www.******.com for food planning/tracking or try software like www.lifeform.com or www.dietpower.com[*]Plan for adversity you may encounter in the next couple weeks, how will you overcome it? [*] Know your WHY--it better be good! You've got to want this bad, and you've got to make it a priority--write it in your binder and read it every day! [*] Get ready to look and feel wonderful! Confident! Powerful! [*] We do NOT support re-starts. You are making a promise to yourself, so make sure you're ready! If you mess up a couple days, get back on track, but don't restart (your WHY should be strong enough to get you back on track)![/list=1]Contributed by Roro
[COLOR=blue]Combining BFL/Low Carb[/COLOR]

This is a personal decision that everyone has their own opinion on. There will be some that say it doesnt work, but many of us have had excellent results. I have seen a lot of people finish challenges with BFL and with low carb. I have seen a few people say they built a lot of muscle but did not burn as much fat as they wanted with the BFL nutrition, but most of them were happy with their results. I have never heard anyone say they were unhappy with their amount of fat loss on low carb, but I have heard people say they did low carb for their first challenge, then switch to BFL and did better on BFL.

There are a few points that should be considered:[list=1][*]It depends on how much excess body fat you have to burn, and whether your main goal is fat-burning or muscle building. [*]No matter which plan you follow, you need to get enough protein. This is CRUCIAL for muscle building. You need to get 1g of protein for each pound of LBM minimum. [*]No matter which plan you follow, you need to get enough protein. This is CRUCIAL for muscle building. Most of us aim for at least 1g of protein per pouind of current body weight, though some use LBM as a minimum. [*]In order to keep your metabolism up, you should be eating every 2-3 hours. Most people eat 6 small meals a day. [*]Some people need to eat more carbs and just FEEL better with the BFL eating. If thats you, go for it. If you are like me and have metabolic resistance and hypoglycemia, more carbs could make you feel worse. I feel better burning fat for my energy. Too many carbs make my blood sugar swing and blood pressure drop, and make it hard for me to complete my workout. Everyone is different. You really have to listen to your body. If you feel like crap on Atkins, you wont do well in your workouts. [*]Some people will burn more fat with Atkins woe, since you will be in fat-burning mode all the time. As soon as you eat too many carbs, you stop the fat burning process, and start burning carbs for energy. [*] Most people on low carb do not take a free day, or just have low carb legal treats. On BFL, some people can undo all the good they did all week in one day on their free day. Others can handle free day just fine. You really have to determine which applies to you. [*] If you are very close to goal, and you really already have a low body fat percentage, you need to eat more carbs or calories, or your body will start burning its own muscle for fuel. This is NOT good!![/list=1] My opinion is that you can have good nutrition or bad nutrition no matter what plan you call it. I call mine Atkins, and I eat mostly lean meats, lots of vegies, fruit, nuts, yogurt, fats, plenty of protein, and once in a while treat myself to a LC bar, shake, pork rinds, bacon or a low carb dessert. I think this is very healthy. Someone else can call their plan Atkins and eat mostly bacon, pork rinds, sausage, low carb chocolate, not enough vegies, too many fried foods, not enough protein, and I agree, that would NOT be suitable for a bodybuilder. Someone can call their plan BFL and eat mostly lean meats, CC, lots of vegies, fruits, healthy carbs, and treat themself to a moderate free day, and that is very healthy. Or they can call it BFL but be eating a lot of fat-free processed stuff, not enough vegies, most of their meals as bars and shakes with sugar and maltodextrin in them (getting most of their carbs from sugar) and gorge themselves on free day, and to me that is also a bodybuilder's disaster.

The point I am trying to make is we all have choices on any plan we choose, and we have to make those the healthiest choices we can, not worry about what label we put on the plan.

Also, everyone is different and has to find what works for them.
If you are still undecided, here are some other questions to ask yourself:

How do you feel on Atkins?

Do you have more energy?

Do you have any health problems that have improved since doing Atkins?

Does a cheat set you off with cravings and make it hard to get back on?

If any of these are yes, then I would stay low carb. If you havent done so already, start adding more carbs, healthy carbs, and see which ones you can handle. Try to find your CCL, it may increase once you start BFL workouts. Mine increased dramatically, and I was able to add back fruit. I was stalled on atkins for four months at 20 carbs a day, and adding carbs along with BFL workouts broke my stall.

On the other hand, do you miss bread, even if it's healthy whole wheat bread, and also pasta and rice, and you would rather eat these foods even tho you cant have them with butter? Can you handle low fat without feeling deprived? Do you have LESS energy on atkins? Does a free day sound like something you could handle, and would not make you get cravings? Then if the answer to these questions is yes, try the BFL nutrition. If you decide to do BFL, take some time to add more carbs slowly so as not to shock your system. Hope this helps!

Your meals should be low fat, low sodium, and complex carbs sources such as fibrous veggies- broccoli and cauliflower.

3. Sodium and Mineral Balance:

Don't lower sodium too much too fast because you'll retain water.

Limit sodium to 500 mg 24 hours before the shoot.

Take extra potassium 5 days before the shoot to increase the potassium/sodium ratio for optimal water balance.

Eliminate all dairy product a week before the shoot- dairy. causes water retention in some people.

4. Water Intake and Water Depletion:

Drink distilled water 5 days before shoot to lower sodium intake.

16 hrs before shoot lower water intake drastically and just sip water as needed.

Take a natural diuretic starting 3 days before shoot- recommends Natural Water Balance by EAS

5. Carbohydrate Depleting and Loading: This is explained on Hussman's site if interested. 6. Posing Oil: Use baby oil or Body Butter (from The Body Shop) says you can also use Pam cooking spray. 7. Tanning: Use a tanning lotion 3 days your last week, recommends Ban de Soleil- I have used this before and it is good!8. Shaving: Well I think it's for the men but ladies shave too! LOL! 9. What to wear: Wear a varitey of clothes so you can pick the best pictures. Barefoot is better.10. Warm Up before the shoot by working out a little before the shoot.

A few more tips:Contributed by Smasty

take them in the morning before the daily droop happens.

Get as much color as you can....if you use tanning lotion, use it 2-3 days in a row...read the tips on sunless.com. I used a 3" plastic paint roller taped to a wooden spoon to get my back...worked great (use a spray for your back rather than a lotion for better coverage).

Do your hair and makeup nice....

Really focus on every muscle when you pose....if you do it right, you will be exhausted when you're done.

Most of us find that we want to spread our wings a bit after we have one or two traditional BFL Challenges behind us. The problem is, for many of us, BFL is the only lifting we've ever done, so we have no idea how to "spread our wings!: That's why we thought this addition to the traditional BFL sticky would be a good idea. This post will be edited to add lots of good ideas on workouts & nutrition that the vets have learned over time. Pick & choose and experiment to see what works for you.

One way most of us change things is by moving to a split for our workouts rather than doing UBWOs & LBWOs. Many of us feel it gives us a better workout for each body part.

These splits were recently posted by tonil.

[COLOR=red]Just the RIGHT split . . .[/COLOR]

I want the perfect plan (don't we all?) . . . perusing the web and checking out different programs. I found these splits that have at least 3 days of cardio (as much as I hate it -- I know I need it to lose weight) and one day of rest...

I just found that I wasn't getting a very good workout on the bis and tris when I tried to combine them with the rest of the UBWO, and I moved abs to the cardio day in the interest of time. Sometime I do abs more often, though - at least twice evey week. And on the legs days, I always do quads and hams, but I alternate between doing calves or doing inner/outer thighs. (I"m relatively happy with my calves, but the thighs need some WORK!) Who knows what's best... have to listen to the old body.

Posted by lynnjc:

just yesterday deceided I needed to add in much more cardio-so what I began was adding in 20 minutes of cardio before each weight training session. Can't tell you if is it working or not but I remain ever hopeful that some of this excess fat will eventually disappear from these thighs.

Here's a re-post about gaining/getting bigger. Maybe something in it will
help you.
~~~~~~
Getting bigger before you get smaller is a very common phenomenon, but
at 4 weeks things should be turning around. If they're not, you need
to pay close attention to your portion sizes, carb choices, and free
day.

Of course, PMS can do a number on your weight and the way your clothes
fit. So can creatine products like Betagen. So can taking measurements
or trying on clothes the day after free day. And never weigh, measure,
or try on anything at night if you can help it, because that's when
you'll be at your biggest and heaviest. It's best to do that kind of
thing first thing in the morning on free day before you've had
anything to eat or drink. That way you'll always have a full week of
clean eating behind you.

Here's a post from a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about
the "getting bigger" issue. The links at the end might give you some
ideas for stepping up your progress. Hang in there!

~~
If you're feeling
big and bulky, the problem isn't your new lean muscle, it's the old
familiar fat that's still covering it. It's easy to gain some muscle
in the beginning. Once the fat loss catches up, you'll have some
sleek, rock hard, jiggle free legs that are smaller than what you
started with. Witness the fat and muscle comparison photo:http://skwigg.tripod.com/fat_and_muscle.jpg

Quite a few women never get there though. They gain an inch in their
thighs the first couple weeks of training, wig out, and go back to
being flabby and soft. If they'd stuck it out for 12 weeks, they'd
have found that the fat loss catches up and their legs start looking
amazing! It's not unusual for the measurements in your arms, legs, and
hips to go up slightly at first but then drop like rocks. At the end
of a 12 week transformation you'll be inches smaller all the way
around. Most people don't stick it out though. The "I'm getting bulky"
phenomenon is an excellent excuse to quit and go back to something
safely ineffective.

Double check your meals, your portion sizes, and free day, and make
sure you're creating a substantial calorie deficit every week. You
have to have a calorie deficit in order to strip the fat off. If
you're training your guts out but you've increased your calories to
meet the demands, it's possible that you're accidentally doing a
"bulking" phase. That's all about your diet though.

If you're near your ideal weight, the ballpark estimates are that your
calories should be 8-10 times your body weight for fat loss, 12 times
your body weight for fat loss with some muscle gain, and 15 times body
weight for muscle gain only. Here's the BFL calculator:http://www.bodyforlife.com/exercise/calcalc.asp

Remember, those numbers are only going to be close if you're already
near your ideal weight. Anybody more than 20-30 pounds over might want
to enter a goal weight instead of your current weight.

I have been following the Atkins diet and the Body For Life Exercise Plan for 6 weeks. Have lost 3 inches off my thighs and hips and my legs feel lmuch less cellulitey and smoother.
Love the exercise plan and really enjoy doing the weights.

The beauty of it is I am going to the Gym a lot less and seeing greater results.

[COLOR="DarkOliveGreen"]I am eating like BFL but I got my training program from freetrainers.com
You can print out your own personalized workout and take it to the gym with you. I am doing 3x a week weight splits and I will try and work cardio in on the rest of the days. I work on some days so I get my cardio with that because I clean offices and houses.

Starting new today!! Wish me luck!![/COLOR]

__________________
If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don't accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend.
Saint Augustine

Well, I am not too far into it so it is hard to tell. I am finding that I eat better though if I just do a protein drink in the morning with fat in it and do a big lunch like chicken, rice, and veggie with dried fruit for dessert. Then I don't have anything until about 6 or 6:30 and then I eat just a light meal with fruit for dessert. I find that I don't nibble at night if I eat that way.

I love the freetrainers routines and they are very challenging. I will lyk how I make out in a week or so. I think that I have lost about a lb so far though. I want to lose slow so that I am losing fat and not muscle. I work too hard for the muscle to give it up at my age.

__________________
If two friends ask you to judge a dispute, don't accept, because you will lose one friend; on the other hand, if two strangers come with the same request, accept because you will gain one friend.
Saint Augustine

I started the BFL exercises on Monday-coupled with Atkins-because that is what I feel best on...am really looking forward to what will happen at the end of twelve weeks...I am already starting to see results.

Even though I am doing Atkins, I still do the free day but don't go overboard. I just eat healthier, higher carbs on that day. And then I'm right back on plan the next day.

I am starting BFL next week. I will work a trainer for 2 of the 3 weights workout. I will do the third day on my own. She will plan my cardio sessions based on the offerings at the gym. I am looking forward to it. I see we are almost the same weight. How many calories are you eating daily?

Hi LynnJC, just continue what you've been doing, you wouldn't see the effect that early. As long as you've worked hard and have discipline, you'll surely get what you've wanted. Keep up the good training.

Hi LynnJC, just continue what you've been doing, you wouldn't see the effect that early. As long as you've worked hard and have discipline, you'll surely get what you've wanted. Keep up the good training.

Your post is great and very informative. I am getting ready to start my next BFL phase. I have cut a good majority of body fat and want to now add calories to my diet in order to bulk. I really like the guidance you've provided on splits for the exercises instead of the traditional UBW and LBW regiment. My only question is, if you recommend just two muscle goups per day, are you still training as the BFL suggests? Like only doing two exercises per muscle group with 12, 10, 8, 6, 12, and then 12 reps with the second exercise as the BFL suggests? Or do you recommend something else like three or four exercises per muscle group? And if so, can you please advise me how you are doing the sets. Thank you for any help you provide.

Most of us find that we want to spread our wings a bit after we have one or two traditional BFL Challenges behind us. The problem is, for many of us, BFL is the only lifting we've ever done, so we have no idea how to "spread our wings!: That's why we thought this addition to the traditional BFL sticky would be a good idea. This post will be edited to add lots of good ideas on workouts & nutrition that the vets have learned over time. Pick & choose and experiment to see what works for you.

One way most of us change things is by moving to a split for our workouts rather than doing UBWOs & LBWOs. Many of us feel it gives us a better workout for each body part.

These splits were recently posted by tonil.

[COLOR=red]Just the RIGHT split . . .[/COLOR]

I want the perfect plan (don't we all?) . . . perusing the web and checking out different programs. I found these splits that have at least 3 days of cardio (as much as I hate it -- I know I need it to lose weight) and one day of rest...

I just found that I wasn't getting a very good workout on the bis and tris when I tried to combine them with the rest of the UBWO, and I moved abs to the cardio day in the interest of time. Sometime I do abs more often, though - at least twice evey week. And on the legs days, I always do quads and hams, but I alternate between doing calves or doing inner/outer thighs. (I"m relatively happy with my calves, but the thighs need some WORK!) Who knows what's best... have to listen to the old body.

Posted by lynnjc:

just yesterday deceided I needed to add in much more cardio-so what I began was adding in 20 minutes of cardio before each weight training session. Can't tell you if is it working or not but I remain ever hopeful that some of this excess fat will eventually disappear from these thighs.

This is just a beginning. This post will be edited & more Beyond CI ideas will be added. I've spent too much time typing & my arms are complaining!

Diamond Deb,

Your post is great and very informative. I am getting ready to start my next BFL phase. I have cut a good majority of body fat and want to now add calories to my diet in order to bulk. I really like the guidance you've provided on splits for the exercises instead of the traditional UBW and LBW regiment. My only question is, if you recommend just two muscle goups per day, are you still training as the BFL suggests? Like only doing two exercises per muscle group with 12, 10, 8, 6, 12, and then 12 reps with the second exercise as the BFL suggests? Or do you recommend something else like three or four exercises per muscle group? And if so, can you please advise me how you are doing the sets. Thank you for any help you provide.